1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an ink jet image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an ink jet image forming apparatus having a cleaning device to clean an ink jet head.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink jet image forming apparatus is an apparatus that forms an image by ejecting ink onto a printing medium. According to a printing type, the ink jet image forming apparatus is classified as a shuttle type or a line printing type. The shuttle type ink jet image forming apparatus forms an image by using an ink jet head that can move reciprocally in a direction perpendicular to a feeding direction of a printing medium. The line printing type ink jet image forming apparatus forms an image by using an array ink jet head which is provided with a nozzle part having a length corresponding to a width of a printing medium.
Regardless of the shuttle type or the line printing type, in order for the ink jet image forming apparatus to print an image of a good quality, a nozzle part of the ink jet head should be kept in a desirable state or an optimum state for printing. For this, the ink jet image forming apparatus is provided with a maintenance device to keep the nozzle part of the ink jet head in a good condition. The maintenance device generally performs maintenance operations, such as spitting, wiping and capping. The spitting is to eject the ink several times at a regular cycle to remove the ink whose viscosity becomes high. The wiping is to wipe off foreign substances from the nozzle part. The capping is to cap the nozzle part to shield the same from outdoor air.
Through the above maintenance operations, the nozzle part of the ink jet image forming apparatus can be kept in a good condition. However, in some cases, the nozzle is blocked (e.g., severely) so that it cannot be easily recovered. To address this problem, there is an ink jet image forming apparatus that is provided with a cleaning device using ultrasonic waves as the maintenance device.
An example of the ink jet image forming apparatus having a cleaning device using ultrasonic waves is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2003-0031247. The disclosed cleaning device is one that is applied to the shuttle type ink jet image forming apparatus. The cleaning device includes a storage tank in which a cleaning liquid is stored, a cleaning bath that is mounted above the storage tank, and a cleaning liquid supply pump to supply the cleaning liquid in the storage tank to the cleaning bath. The cleaning bath is formed with a cleaning liquid supply/drain hole to supply and drain the cleaning liquid, and a cleaning liquid exhaust hole to maintain a water level in the cleaning bath constant. If the cleaning liquid supply pump operates in a cleaning mode, the cleaning liquid is supplied into the cleaning bath through the cleaning liquid supply/drain hole, and an ultrasonic element disposed on a bottom of the cleaning bath oscillates to clean the ink jet head. If the cleaning mode is terminated, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning bath is collected into the storage tank by its own weight.
However, the above conventional cleaning device has various disadvantages such as the cleaning liquid cannot be totally collected and can remain in the cleaning bath or flow passage because the cleaning liquid in the cleaning bath is collected only by its own weight. If the cleaning liquid remains in the cleaning bath, it may have a bad influence on electrical components mounted around the cleaning bath. If the cleaning liquid remains in the flow passage through which cleaning water circulates, foreign substances may be accumulated in the flow passage so that the flow passage becomes narrowed or clogged.
Further, the disclosed cleaning device is not adequate to clean an array ink jet head having a wide width because the cleaning device is fixed to a specific position in the shuttle type ink jet image forming apparatus.